2001-02 Season

Bill W. and Dr. BobWritten by Samuel Shem and
Janey Surrey

Directed by Chucke Plaistek

In 1929, famous New York stockbroker Bill Wilson crashes with the stock market and becomes a hopeless drunk. Dr. Bob Smith, a surgeon from Ohio, has also been an alcoholic for thirty years, often going into the operating room with a hangover. Through an astonishing series of events, Bill W. and Dr. Bob meet and form a relationship, each helping to keep the other sober. This is the amazing and often humorous story of the two men who pioneered Alcoholics Anonymous, as well as the story of their wives, who founded Al Anon.

This fast moving, hilarious comedy, deals with two earnest young men struggling to put out a "protest" magazine, and the all-American girl who moves in next door and manages to send both of them into a romantic tail spin.

"…Mr. Simon can do wonders…with casually tossed-off fantasies that pop up from nowhere and whistle as they go by." —NY Times.

Fired after twenty years, Walter Price encounters three provocative characters while contemplating his options on a park bench: Ellie, a high spirited ingenue who represents hope; Haley, a distinguished hobo representing wisdom; and Lenore, a hooker who represents reality.

What seems like an open-and-shut murder case becomes a twisted puzzle of prejudice and intrigue. Twelve jurors in a murder trial are corralled in a room for the duration of their deliberation. As prejudices are tested and evidence is weighed, the entire jury is forced to look past the show of the courtroom to unearth the shocking truth. Faced with playing the hangmen, these dozen men must first face themselves.